


one little spark

by wawayaga



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Disney, M/M, Sonny Eclipse - Freeform, figment - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24281629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wawayaga/pseuds/wawayaga
Summary: Shinwon takes Changgu on his first Disney vacation, he realizes the greatest place on earth isn't at Walt Disney World, but anywhere he's with his best friend.
Relationships: Ko Shinwon/Yeo Changgu | Yeo One
Comments: 9
Kudos: 41





	1. magic kingdom

Taking Yeo Changgu to Disney World for the first time was nothing short of, well, _magic_.

Shinwon had expected to have a good time; eat too much cotton candy, get dizzy on the teacups. Maybe catch a parade or two if they could manage it. He hadn’t expected to fall in love with his best friend. 

Shinwon had been to Disney a few times before, thought that every kid had, until he roomed with Changgu at college and found out that, no, not every kid had been to Disney. He, albeit drunkenly, immediately vowed to take him when Changgu finished his thesis senior year as a celebration. Changgu had gone to that final lecture and Shinwon had taken advantage of the empty apartment to decorate it with streamers and cardboard cutouts of Mickey and the gang. When he got home, Shinwon plopped a makeshift pair of ears on Changgu’s head and declared that they would be leaving the following Monday for Orlando. 

“What is all this? Why are we going to Orlando?” Changgu blinked at him. 

“I promised you sophomore year we would go to Disney when you finished! You finished, you won a trip to Disney!” Shinwon cheered silently. 

“I forgot all about that. You were serious? You _are_ serious? We’re going?” 

Shinwon tapped the ears on Changgu’s head, “you think I’d let you walk around with these on anywhere else?”

Changgu snatched Shinwon up in a hug, “I can’t wait.” He scampered off to his room to start packing. 

※※※

  
  


And now here they were, Changgu excitedly grabbing Shinwon’s hand as they walk through the bag check to see the train station out in front of Magic Kingdom. 

“Just you wait and see, this isn’t even the best part,” Shinwon leans down to be heard over the din. 

Changgu’s grip on his hand tightens as he sees the booth selling ears and pins to their left, Shinwon is being dragged over before he realizes what’s happening. Changgu drops his hand to gently turn the racks of hats and headbands, he picks a rose gold pair and turns to Shinwon for his opinion. 

“What do you think?”

“I don’t love the sequins. Maybe those instead,” he said pointing to a headband that looked like the Toy Story aliens. 

Dutifully Changgu swaps them out and looks in the mirror wrinkling his nose. 

“I think just the classic shape you know?” 

And so he tries nearly the entire booth on, looking to Shinwon each time. 

“We’re gonna miss the park,” Shinwon urges him. 

“We won’t miss the park. I want the best ones.”

Shinwon sighs under his breath and makes eye contact with the vendor who smiles. 

“First time here,” she asks Changgu. 

“Oh! Yes! Sorry I’m a little excited.”

“We have something special for first timers you know,” she leans in like it’s a secret.

“Oh?” She had Changgu’s full attention now. 

“First time visitors get a badge!” The gasp Changgu let out was genuine and really, Shinwon shouldn’t have been surprised at all. 

She revealed a large yellow button proclaiming “1st Visit!” on it and hands him a marker to write his name in the space. Turning to Shinwon she asks if it was his first time too. 

“No no, just him. We’re celebrating the end of undergrad,” he explains. 

“We have a button for that too if you’d like,” she exclaims, going to retrieve a blue button with “I’m Celebrating!” printed on it.

Changgu takes this too, with a gentle reverence like it was something special. It was, to him at least, Shinwon supposed as Changgu asks him for help pinning it to his shirt. 

“Thank you so much! I’m going to get these ears and leave you to your day but thank you so much this was a wonderful surprise,” Changgu says, handing over a pair of black ears with plumeria on them. He puts them on his head and grabs Shinwon’s hand again. 

“You finally ready to go, you lollygagger?” Shinwon laughs and pulls him back to the pathway, knowing Changgu would fall silent again when he faced back to front and saw the castle ahead of them. 

“Yeah yeah yeah, just look.” Shinwon points to the castle, directing Changgu’s attention.

This time he expected the gasp. 

“It’s right there! Oh my god Shinwon we’re in Disney. That’s Cinderella’s castle.”

“We are indeed. Now let’s get you a photo op.”

※※※

Living with Changgu for the past few years had taught Shinwon a lot. McDonald’s more than twice a month was maybe not good for you, making other people laugh was even better than making yourself laugh, and, perhaps most importantly, patience. 

As much as Shinwon loved to laze around, he was also the type of person to want to get in and out and be done. Changgu had taught him that sometimes the best part was to simply experience something without the end goal in mind. He’d shown Shinwon that there was usually never a rush and that you could have fun in even the most boring situations. 

This was coming in handy now. Changgu makes Shinwon take photos with him in front of the castle, gets him to take one by himself “for your mom, she’ll want to see you.” He even convinces the balloon man to let him hold the bunch for a picture. It seems like no one is immune from Changgu’s megawatt smile as the cast member lets him have one free of charge. 

Shinwon watches the encounter from the shade of the sidewalk as he sips on his frozen hot chocolate.

Changgu thanks the man profusely and makes his way back over to Shinwon but stops a family on his way. He talks to the parents for a moment then crouches down to talk to their daughter. He smiles at her and hands over his balloon, her face lights up almost as much as his and she throws her arms around his neck in thanks. Changgu waves to them as they walk off. 

Shinwon was used to Changgu being endlessly kind. He found it one of the strangest things about him, if he was being honest. Shinwon understood being polite, obviously, and he thought he was a good person but Changgu went so far above and beyond so often that Shinwon frequently wondered if his roommate would be canonized. He hadn’t known people really volunteered at soup kitchens and children’s hospitals until he’d met Changgu who did both of those things and more. He’d never actually _seen_ Changgu help any little old women cross the street but he _did_ read to some seniors at a care center every so often so it really wouldn’t surprise him at all. 

Changgu finishes making his way over to Shinwon, still smiling. 

“You finally ready to hit some rides,” Shinwon asks. 

“Yes! And don’t worry, no roller coasters.” Changgu winks at him as he gestures for Shinwon to lead the way. 

They’d talked a bit on the plane about what rides were most crucial, Shinwon stood by Pirates and Haunted Mansion; Changgu really wanted to check out Small World and Jungle Cruise. They decided that the teacups were a given. 

※※※

In retrospect, Shinwon should have made Changgu eat something other than cotton candy and a churro before going on the teacups. In retrospect, Shinwon shouldn’t have let Changgu spin their cup so fast. In retrospect, Shinwon should have seen this coming. 

Changgu bounces excitedly on his toes in the line to the ride as Shinwon laughs at him. Changgu pouts and opens his mouth to say something but they’re next up and the cast member waves them in. 

Shinwon is dragged to a light purple cup and shows Changgu how to turn the wheel in the center to turn them around. There’s a sudden glint in Changgu’s eyes and Shinwon only has time to squint at him suspiciously before the ride starts up. They’re turning and Changgu’s hair is blowing around as he snatches his ears off with a quick hand so they don’t fall off. His laugh is the only thing Shinwon can hear, his smile wide and his head thrown back. Shinwon smiles and helps his best friend turn the wheel. 

Shinwon is honestly a little impressed with how fast Changgu manages to spin their cup and when they slow to a stop it looks like Changgu is too. Their cup door opens and Shinwon stands to leave when he sees Changgu wobble upon getting up. Changgu giggles and reaches a hand to steady himself on Shinwon’s shoulder and steps down. 

They make their way to a bench, Changgu pressed into Shinwon’s side the whole toddering way, too dizzy to stand straight. They sit and Changgu rests his head against Shinwon’s shoulder. 

“We spun too fast,” he groans. 

“We spun too fast,” Shinwon agrees on a laugh. 

“Shinwonnie my stomach hurts why did you let me spin us so fast.”

“It’s a rite of passage.”

Changgu groans again and Shinwon throws an arm over his shoulder and they sit for a minute.

“C’mon. We can ride Small World while you recover,” Shinwon says finally. 

The line is much shorter at Small World and they have a boat to themselves when they get to the front. Changgu’s face drops for a second as he steps down and the boat rocks a bit, the nausea returning, but everything steadies out and the excitement is back in his eyes. 

The ride is slow and dark, Shinwon even finds the song a little bit soothing after all these years. Changgu remarks on his favorite parts of each country and Shinwon points to the ceiling, gesturing to the hot air balloons. 

“Those were always my favorite,” he says quietly. Changgu nods seriously. 

He does that a lot, listens to Shinwon talk like what he’s saying is important. He’d mentioned it to Changgu once, after a few drinks when he’d been going on about how cool the new Harry Styles music video was. He'd simply cocked his head and gone, “everything you say is important, Shinwon. You’re saying it.” Shinwon didn’t know what to do with that, wasn’t used to being taken seriously, so he’d laughed it off and skipped to the next song. 

They exited the tunnel, Changgu waving goodbye to the standees at the end. Blinking against the glare of the sun they step out of their boat. 

“What did you think,” Shinwon asks him, leading Changgu to Liberty Square for the Haunted Mansion. 

“I could happily ride that all day.”

“You and me both my guy,” someone behind them leers, their friends laughing.

Changgu doesn't seem to hear but Shinwon blushes. 

He turns to Changgu to ask what his favorite part was. 

“I think the zebra playing the drum in- was that India?”

“Yeah I think so. I probably should have gotten us Fast Passes for this but you’ll like the line, there’s a lot of fun stuff to look at.”

They spend the next 45 minutes reading the headstones and plodding along. They’re nearly to the front, ready to go under the portico where Shinwon’s about to point out his favorite tombstone- Brother Claude (planted here beneath this sod)- when Changgu jumps and grabs his hand. 

“That one blinked!” He exclaims. 

“She does. That’s Madame Leota,” Shinwon smiles. “You’ll see more of her inside.”

Changgu is duly impressed with the stretching room, whirling his head around to see all the portraits. He’s equally into the busts that pop into 3D in the hall on the way to the Doom Buggies. Shinwon’s having fun watching him, he always loved the Haunted Mansion and to see it through someone else’s eyes for the first time is more exciting than he’d realized it would be. 

Shinwon’s busy looking at Changgu smiling at a portrait when he trips on the moving walkway to get to their buggy. Changgu shoots an arm out to catch him and Shinwon laughs awkwardly, assuring the cast member that he’s okay. 

Changgu’s looking at him worriedly when they get seated and strapped in. Shinwon waves him off.

“I’m fine it was just a little quicker than I expected. You’re gonna miss it c’mon don’t look at me you’ve gotta pay attention.”

He loves it as much as Shinwon thought he would, his face lit up the whole time in awe. His eyes bug a little when the hitchhiking ghost shows up in the mirror and grabs Shinwon’s thigh and giggles as the buggy turns away and moves his hand back to his own lap. He smiles biggest when the busts start singing. 

Shinwon, as always, is entranced by the ballroom scene. He knows it’s just projection on netting but the detail and effort that went into the sequence never fails to amaze him. He finds himself smiling the entire ride. 

※※※

“Are you hungry? I’ve got this really lame thing I think you’ll love,” Shinwon says. 

“If you’re saying it’s lame then that means it’s your favorite and you’re dying to see it,” Changgu laughs at him. 

Shinwon, caught, shrugs his agreement. 

Lunch finds them in Cosmic Ray’s, awaiting the emergence of one Sonny Eclipse. Shinwon’s parents hated Sonny Eclipse; sure he made them sit and listen to the entire runthrough at least twice whenever they were in Magic Kingdom but what was 54 minutes in air conditioning in the Florida heat? He makes sure to take a video to send his mom. 

“Y’know. You look a bit like him,” Changgu says through a mouthful of sandwich as they watch. 

Shinwon looks at him appalled, “Excuse me?” 

“You have similar haircuts,” Changgu ruffles Shinwon’s hair and laughs as Shinwon just continues to gape at him. 

“I bring you to the happiest place on Earth and this is how you treat me? To think I was gonna buy you ice cream before the fireworks.”

“There’s fireworks tonight?” Changgu looks at him eagerly. 

“Every night. There’s a really fun parade too if you want.”

He gets a “duh” look for his efforts. 

“We’ve got plenty to do before then though and the wait for Pirates is gonna be crazy,” Shinwon stands to toss their trash and say goodbye to Sonny. 

Shinwon stops short in the doorway and Changgu nearly runs into his back. 

“Oh! Oh my god I forgot. There’s something you’ll love even more than Pirates, c’mon.” 

Shinwon tugs Changgu’s hand, pulling him along to the far corner of Tomorrowland. 

“Shinwon what’s the rush there’s not even a line,” Changgu whines as the building comes into view. 

“People have no taste,” Shinwon says as the cast member waves them in. 

They take their seats and Shinwon shushes Changgu as he asks what they’re doing. 

“Carousel of Progress? What is this?”

“You’ll see and you’ll _love_ it, I promise.”

He did, love it that is. The section was empty enough that he felt comfortable keeping up a running monologue throughout, not that Shinwon minded. 

“We just sit and it goes around? There’s a dog! Its tail wags and it just barked!”

“That’s Rover,” Shinwon says, smiling. 

“Oh everything in the house moves.” Changgu was beside himself, the joy clear on his face. “The rooms change! Oh these animatronics are so good.”

They weren’t, Shinwon thought, but that was the best part. Disney animatronics lived in the uncanny valley of “recognizably human” and “were probably great for their time but aged less than spectacularly.” He didn’t mind. 

“Oh my god he installed a light fixture on the porch so she can sew outside in the summer,” Changgu looks a bit choked up when Shinwon looks over at him. He pats his knee in solidarity. 

The room keeps turning and Changgu laughs when the uncle wearing his hat in the bath shows up. 

“I’m sorry I just can’t get over the dog,” he says again. 

The scenes keep sneaking by, “Oh, Grandma plays laser blaster.”

“Sure she does, doesn’t yours,” Shinwon asks. 

“Mine couldn’t even operate her landline,” Changgu starts to explain when the oven explodes. “The oven exploded!” 

Shinwon just laughs.

“What are you talking about ‘as long as we’re all here and happy and together who cares if I burned the Christmas turkey,’ Dad? The kitchen is on fire.”

“Isn’t that a lovely sentiment though?”

“Only if he has a backup dinner,” Changgu looks at him with wide eyes. 

The lights come back on and Shinwon turns to Changgu. 

“Well, what did you think?”

“Madness. I miss the dog already,” Changgu says a little vacantly. 

Shinwon laughs again and pulls him up by the hand. 

※※※

They luck out at the line for Pirates, single rider is less full and the wait time shorter. Shinwon takes the time to check his socials and notices that Changgu uploaded a candid of him at lunch with Sonny Eclipse behind him captioned, “Shinwonnie Eclipse”.

He shakes his phone at his friend, “Changgu what is this!”

Changgu doubles over in peels of laughter. 

“Yah it’s not funny!”

“No it really, really is,” Changgu coughs out. 

“We don’t look anything alike and frankly I’m offended you would say we did,” Shinwon stares at him. 

“You do a little bit. Here look- excuse me, miss?” Changgu stands up and taps a woman ahead of them on the shoulder. “Could you look at this photo and tell me if they look alike, please?”

He shows her the photo of Sonny on his phone and she looks from it to Shinwon and back again. 

“Mm, it’s the hair,” she decides, putting her sunglasses back on.

“I’m dying it the second we get home,” Shinwon pouts. 

“Aw Shinwonnie I love this color though,” Changgu reaches out a hand to ruffle his friend’s hair but Shinwon knocks it away. “Oh you aren’t really upset are you? It was just a joke I thought you loved Sonny.”

“I _do_ but I don’t want to look like some old animatronic alien.”

“You’re much cuter than him. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend your delicate sensibilities,” Changgu leans into his friend. 

“Well my sensibilities are very delicate,” Shinwon sniffs, resting his head on Changgu’s shoulder. 

Changgu pets his head, “do you want me to delete it?”

Shinwon sighs. “No just leave it, I know it’s gonna make you laugh again when you see it.”

“Too true, Shinwonnie, too true.”

They enter the covered section of line, air conditioning and the smell of chlorine hitting them in the face. 

“You know, I think that weird watery smell is the best part,” Changgu says, wrinkling his nose happily. “Smells like childhood.”

They wait their turn discussing the finer points of the Pirates franchise, Changgu arguing the third had the most interesting lore while Shinwon defended the first as the best. 

“Oh, it’s very dark,” Changgu says quietly as they corral into the boat dock. “I thought it would be like small world, is it scary?”

“I wouldn’t go on anything scary, you know that.” Changgu squints at him doubtfully. “And I wouldn’t take _you_ on anything scary,” Shinwon rolls his eyes. “I promise. If I’m wrong I’ll get you _two_ ice creams later.”

“Hm. Deal.”

Shinwon is true to his word and the ride is perfectly placid. They hum along to Yo Ho and knock their shoulders together in time to the music. Changgu is especially fond of the dog in the jail scene. 

“He’s no Rover but he’s pretty good too,” he whispers to Shinwon as they float past. 

Changgu’s breath hits Shinwon’s neck, warm in the chill of the ride, he tries to hide his shiver.

※※※

“Up for another boat? Jungle Cruise is right over there,” Shinwon points, stretching as they leave Pirates. 

“Always up for a boat,” Changgu agrees.

The line for Jungle Cruise is short, families opting for more exciting rides or taking the afternoon to nap back at their hotels before coming back for the night. 

Changgu gets into the boat first and trips on the step down, Shinwon reaches out to steady him but the skipper gets to him first. 

“Woah there, you okay?” 

“Oh! Thank you so much, I didn’t see the lip there,” Changgu smiles up at him. 

“Not a problem at all.” Shinwon notes that he hasn’t let go off Changgu’s elbow yet. “Here, there’s a spot just here for you,” the skipper says, smiling and gesturing to his left. 

“Right up front, Shinwonnie!” Changgu and the other man both look to him, he lets go of Changgu’s elbow. 

“Sure, looks good,” Shinwon says, dragging his eyes from Changgu’s arm to his face. 

The rest of the boat fills out and they take off, the skipper telling semi racey jokes for the parents and silly ones for the kids.

“And of course, what you’ve all been waiting for...the backside of water!” the skipper flourishes a hand toward the waterfall they’re passing. “Couple other backsides I’d like to see today,” he says away from the mic, glancing at Changgu. To his credit, Changgu doesn’t seem to be listening as he takes a picture of the water buffalo ahead of them. 

Shinwon raises an eyebrow at the skipper who gives him a “can you blame me?” shrug in return and carries on the tour. 

He guesses not, thinking about it a second. Shinwon realizes in that moment that Changgu got hit on quite a bit, maybe more than him. Was he jealous? He looks at the skipper again, he was okay looking but wouldn’t have been Shinwon’s first choice. At least once a semester someone around campus would flirt with Changgu but he never seemed to notice. 

Now that he was thinking about it, Shinwon had never seen Changgu go out with anyone in the four years they’d lived together. Granted Shinwon didn’t go out much either, maybe once or twice and a few makeouts at parties but he preferred spending his time with friends or at home with Changgu. 

Maybe Changgu wasn’t into that kind of thing? Shinwon decided to file this question away to ask about later.

As they pull into the dock, the skipper gives the usual warning of, “Please watch your head as you leave the boat. If you can’t watch your head at least watch your mouth, there’s families here.”

Changgu and Shinwon wait for the kids to scurry off the boat to step off themselves. Shinwon gets to the dock first, turning to reach a hand to Changgu to help him up but the skipper, again, gets there before him. 

“There you go, can’t have you breaking such precious cargo now,” he says on a wink. 

Changgu blinks at him. “Oh, yeah thanks,” he smiles weakly back. Shinwon tries not to roll his eyes. 

“Come back soon,” the skipper calls to them as they cross through the gate to exit. 

※※※

“So that was weird,” Shinwon says.

“Was it? I enjoyed it. Were the jokes too corny for you? I thought you’d be used to that by now, spending so much time with me.”

“The jokes were fine, they’re always bad. I mean the way he was acting towards you,” Shinwon explains. 

“How was he acting toward me? I thought he was nice,” Changgu frowns at him confused. 

“Nevermind it’s no big. You wanna grab a snack?” 

Changgu nods his assent and they head to Aloha Isle for Dole whip. 

“We can take these over to Splash Mountain if you want? It’s fun to watch them take the drop,” Shinwon offers. 

They lean against the railing eating their floats in relative silence, Shinwon wonders if he’d made Changgu uncomfortable mentioning the guy on the cruise. He turns to ask Changgu what he wants to do next when Changgu starts giggling. 

“What? What?” Shinwon’s wide eyed and looking at Changgu who just keeps laughing and pulls out his phone. 

“Hold on, hold on don’t move,” Changgu says pointing the phone at Shinwon to take a photo. 

He shows it to Shinwon; in it, he’s alarmed and has ice cream on his nose. He smiles at himself and goes to wipe it off but Changgu’s hand is already reaching out to do it. He catches the ice cream on his thumb and Shinwon’s eyes cross to follow the movement. Changgu laughs again and puts the pad of his thumb in his mouth to suck off the stickiness. Shinwon continues to follow the movement. 

“Better,” Changgu declares, going back to his own float. 

“Better. What- what do you uh want to do next?” Shinwon works to refocus his attention. “We’ve got a bit till the parade, that’s not till after sundown.” 

Changgu’s face scrunches up and he groans. 

“Ah brain freeze,” he complains. “Ah Shinwonnie take my ears?” He hands them over then rubs at his face and head trying to warm himself up.

“You know that doesn’t work, right?” 

“Shh you’re not helping,” Changgu pouts, eyes still closed hard. 

Shinwon finishes his Dole whip waiting for Changgu to recover. 

“Alright?” He asks when Changgu sighs. 

“I’m betrayed every time but I keep coming back,” he looks sadly into his empty cup. 

Shinwon goes to hand him his ears back. “You should wear them, you should be festive too.” 

“Ah no that’s okay they’re yours,” Shinwon insists. 

“Please? You’d look so adorable,” Changgu pouts again and Shinwon sighs, knowing he’s already lost.

“Here take the cup then,” he says. 

“No here I’ve got it.” Changgu takes the ears from Shinwon and settles them on his head, brushing Shinwon’s bangs out of his eyes as he pulls his hand back. “See? Adorable.” Changgu smiles and snaps another quick photo before Shinwon can protest. 

  
  


※※※

“Don’t trip this time,” Changgu smiles at him as they get into their cart for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. 

“It was one time,” Shinwon grumbles, stepping onto the walkway. 

“This is a shooting game right? Oh, we’re against each other,” Changgu looks excited. He wasn't usually a competitive person but the look in his eye made Shinwon nervous. 

“Yeah there’s little targets all over you have to find.”

Changgu hums his assent and picks up his cannon, hefting it. Shinwon had a feeling he was in for it. 

“Changgu-yah, our photo is over here,” Shinwon calls out and Changgu comes over. “You know, for someone who just wanted to ride this for the ‘little green guys’ you did a pretty good job.”

“Pretty good? I beat you by almost double!” Changgu points at the screen where his score is, in fact, almost twice as high as Shinwon’s. 

“Should we buy it?” Shinwon waves to the ordering station. 

“Nah, it’s okay I’ll just take one real quick.” Changgu gets a shot of the screen where they’re in their cart- Changgu facing the camera and aiming at something, looking focussed, Shinwon next to him and pointing his gun ahead but looking at Changgu and smiling. 

They walk through to the gift shop and Changgu excitedly picks up a soft Mike Wazowski headband, handing it to Shinwon. 

“Give me back my ears, this is perfect for you,” he says, grabbing at Shinwon’s head. 

“Have you always been this pushy,” Shinwon asks, though he obliges and pulls the headband on, pushing back his bangs. 

“Yeah you just don’t usually complain so much.” Changgu arranges his Mickey ears back on his own head and smiles up at Shinwon. “Perfect,” he says, dragging a finger over the headband before turning to a mirror to adjust his own hair. 

Shinwon pays for his headband and they walk out to see the sun is going down, Changgu shivers in the cooling air. 

“Cold? We can stop to get you a sweatshirt while we wait for the parade,” Shinwon offers. 

Considering how long it’d taken him to pick out ears, Shinwon should have known Changgu would pore over the sweatshirts and pullovers in the shop they were in. 

“Do you like this one?” Changgu asks him, holding up a light gray crewneck with the Disney World logo embroidered over the chest. 

“I do, yeah.” It was simple and if Changgu bought it he wouldn’t feel bad about borrowing it to wear when they got home. 

“Good! They only have XXL….I think we can make it work though,” Changgu hums for a moment before grabbing two and taking them to the register. 

“Two? Changgu, I don’t need one,” he interrupts as he follows him to the line. 

“Don’t be silly of course you do. It’s cold and you’re not gonna steal mine. Besides, this way we can match,” Changgu says matter of factly. He pays for the sweatshirts and smiles at the cashier, waving off a bag. “We’ll just wear them out, thank you.”

Turning to Shinwon he says, “Now let’s go get dinner and find a good spot for the parade.”

“I really don’t think you were this pushy at home,” Shinwon grumbles under his breath, accepting his new shirt from Changgu who was shoving it at him having torn off the tags. 

“Maybe Disney brings out the best in me,” Changgu winks at him and walks toward a cart for a pair of turkey legs. 

There was something about Changgu in flowered ears and oversized crew neck holding an enormous turkey leg that was hysterical to Shinwon. They sit on the curb on Main Street among families lining up to wait for the Electrical Parade and Shinwon can’t stop looking at his friend and laughing. 

“ _What_ is so funny,” Changgu asks for the third time in as many minutes, taking another bite. 

Shinwon juggles his phone out of his pocket and takes a picture just as Changgu is hefting the leg to his mouth, a tiny furrow between his brows as he regards it. 

“Yah! Delete that!” Changgu yells and reaches for Shinwon’s phone, who is holding it above his head and out of reach. 

“It’s payback for Shinwonnie Eclipse. And besides, you have a picture of me with ice cream on my nose from this afternoon, it’s only fair.” He takes a bite of his leg, keeping the phone aloft. 

Changgu wrinkles his nose and makes one more pass for Shinwon’s hand but misses and drops his turkey. 

“Here, do you want some of mine,” Shinwon asks as Changgu looks down at his dropped dinner. 

“No, that’s okay I was done. Hey, ice cream?” He stands and collects the legs to throw away. 

“Yeah. Hey you stay here and save our spot I’ll go,” Shinwon takes the food from him and makes his way over to find Mickey bars. 

He comes back just in time, the first float is coming as he hands Changgu his ice cream. Shinwon eats his, and it looks like Changgu starts to but it’s quickly forgotten as he watches the parade in rapt attention. 

Shinwon can’t blame him, the Electrical Parade is Disney’s best by far; a cavalcade of thousands, probably even millions of lights with music and dancers. He looks over at Changgu who is staring at the parade, the lights and colors dancing over his face and sparkling in his eyes. He looks like a child on Christmas, there’s so much amazement in his expression and Shinwon doesn’t think he’s ever seen him happier. He puts the stick of his bar between his teeth and pulls out his phone again to take a photo of Changgu. He isn’t quite sure why but he thinks he’d like to remember this moment for a long, long time. 

Changgu’s ice cream is melting out of its shell and down his hand but he doesn’t notice at all and Shinwon can’t bring himself to tear Changgu’s attention away from the parade. They watch the show like that, Changgu in awe and Shinwon just glad to be there with his best friend. In truth, he probably spent more time watching Changgu’s reactions than watching the parade but he could always look for a video online later if he wanted. When it’s over Changgu turns to look at him.

“That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen, Shinwon.” His voice is so serious all Shinwon can do is smile at him. 

“Did you like it?” Changgu looks at him aghast. 

“Did I- did I _like_ it? It was spectacular.”

Shinwon’s smiles just grows. 

“Don’t forget there’s still fireworks, save a little excitement.”

“Oh gosh I forgot about the fireworks-” Changgu cuts himself off as he realizes his ice cream is all but a melted puddle at his feet and down his arm. 

“Come on, there’s a bathroom over there,” Shinwon directs him to the other side of the street. 

He buys Changgu a fresh Mickey bar while he’s washing his hands and gives it to him when he comes out. 

“You’re too good to me, Shinwonnie,” he smiles and bites off an ear. 

“Probably.” He huffs a laugh as Changgu knocks his shoulder in offense. 

He finishes while they walk back into Tomorrowland, Shinwon determined to get a trip on the Peoplemover before the park closes for the night. 

“You know the fireworks are about to start, right boys?” the cast member asks as they approach. 

“Oh is it that late already,” Shinwon checks his phone for the time and frowns. 

“Well no way you’ll get a good spot now.” She sees the disappointment on Changgu’s face and notices his buttons. “First time _and_ celebrating? Let’s see if there’s any magic I can cook up, you boys wait right here.” The cast member goes inside and they look at each other, Shinwon shrugging his confusion. 

She comes back to see a few other families have lined up behind them. 

“Well folks, you’re in for a special treat tonight if you’d like. As I’m sure you know, the fireworks are about to start and this attraction behind me has one of the best views in the park. If you ride, know that there may be an “unplanned” stop at the outer track this evening.” She winks at Shinwon and Changgu. “If you’d like an _entirely accidental_ and first class view of the show, please continue on ahead.”

Changgu bounces on his toes excitedly and leads the charge into the queue for the ride as the announcement that the firework show was beginning sounded off in the distance. 

As she’d predicted, the Peoplemover stopped on the outer loop, giving them an unimpeded view of the show at the castle. Shinwon had seen it countless times before but from high up, seated and mostly alone it was more special than he ever could have hoped. Changgu, for his part, was crying and trying to hide it, wiping his face discreetly with the sleeves hanging over his hands. 

“Changgu-yah are you crying?” Shinwon asks softly. He gets a small nod in return. 

“It’s... _magic_ Shinwon,” Changgu sniffles. Shinwon smiles and pats the seat next to him. 

“Come here, snotface, you look so sad by yourself.”

Changgu glares at the insult but moves to Shinwon’s side of the car, Shinwon pulls Changgu against him and laces their fingers together. He didn’t think he’d ever been happier. 

The realization hits him hard in the chest. All his thoughts from the day, the contentment he’d felt throughout the trip, the confusion he’d been feeling on the Jungle Cruise, the flop in his stomach when Changgu had run his hand through his hair at lunch, coalesced into the awareness that he was in love with his best friend. 

“Huh,” Shinwon lets out a tiny laugh. 

“Hm? Oh I think it’s ending,” Changgu says, twisting to look up at Shinwon. “What’s wrong? You look weird.”

Shinwon pulls a face to distract him and Changgu laughs, looking back to the castle for the last of the fireworks. He’d deal with this eventually, he thinks to himself. 

“That was the most incredible experience of my life, I don’t know how to thank you enough.” They’re back on the ground and Changgu has the cast member’s hands in his. 

“It’s my last day, worked here 40 years, thought it was about time to cash in on all that magic floating around,” she tells him. “And besides, the look on your face when you thought you’d miss the fireworks near broke my heart, I couldn’t let such a sweet boy go home disappointed.”

“He has that effect on people,” Shinwon rolls his eyes and Changgu swats him with a sleeve. The woman smiles at them. 

“How long have the two of you been together,” she asks. Shinwon freezes and Changgu laughs. 

“Oh we’re not dating, just friends,” Changgu tells her. 

He thanks her again and they congratulate her on her retirement and head off toward the front of the park. 

Changgu yawns and leans his head on Shinwon’s shoulder as they wait for the skyliner back to their hotel. 

“Good day?” Shinwon asks him though he already knows the answer. 

Changgu lifts his head and smiles at him sleepily. 

“Best day of my life, Shinwonnie, thank you,” he snuggles back into Shinwon’s side and Shinwon lets out a quiet puff of air. Now that he knew, maybe it would get easier. 

  
  
  
  



	2. epcot

For all of Changgu’s efforts, which were many, Shinwon still had a hard time being upfront with his emotions. It’d gotten easier over the years for him to explain when and why he was upset about something but being open about his wanting still wasn’t in his wheelhouse. 

He’d thought about it in the shower when they’d gotten home from Magic Kingdom. Changgu had curled up on the bed, asleep within minutes and snuffling quietly. Shinwon had looked at him for a long moment before shaking his head and grabbing clean shorts to take into the bathroom. 

If he said something and Changgu didn’t feel the same way he stood to lose his best friend. The apartment they shared wasn’t going to be big enough for that kind of awkward tension. He’d need to find a new place to live, maybe try to convince Hyunggu or Hui to move with him. He liked their apartment. Changgu’s bedroom faced west and they often sat and watched the sunset together, shoulder to shoulder on the floor, backs against the side of the bed, mugs of tea warm in their hands talking quietly about their days. 

That’s the sort of thing he didn’t want to ruin. If he opened his fat mouth and made Changgu uncomfortable he would lose the best thing he’d ever known. Shinwon was happy with the way things were. He lived with his best friend who made him dinner almost every night and didn’t complain when Shinwon camped on the couch watching Stranger Things for the fourth time. What they had worked. Changgu liked to drive and Shinwon was good with a map; Changgu made dinner so Shinwon washed dishes. Changgu could never remember to switch his laundry over so Shinwon did it for him. Changgu would leave Shinwon notes on his bathroom mirror so he wouldn’t forget to take the trash out before he left for work. They were good together. Shinwon couldn’t let himself ruin that, the thought made his chest tight as he toweled off his hair. 

He’d walked out of the bathroom to see Changgu smiling at him sleepily from his pillow. 

“You smell nice,” he’d said quietly as Shinwon settled into his own bed. 

He ducked his head and mumbled a ‘thanks’ ignoring the clench in his stomach.

No. No Shinwon couldn’t ruin this. 

\--

The next morning is an early start, Shinwon is determined not to give himself the time to think about what he’d realized last night. The voice in the back of his head, that sounded suspiciously like his friend Kang Hyunggu, was telling him that he was avoiding the situation to which he said, “yup!” 

When Shinwon woke, Changgu was already dressed and sitting at the desk waiting for him. 

“Changgu-yah, the park doesn’t open for another hour at least,” Shinwon is groggily trying to read the clock next to his bed. 6:45 it told him, he groans and covers his head with the duvet. 

He feels the bed dip as Changgu sits next to him. 

“You said there was a lot to do today, I just wanted to make sure we had time for it all.” Changgu’s voice was still a little sleep rough, he must not have been up for long. 

Shinwon grumbles under the blankets, Epcot is his favorite park but Magic Kingdom had worn him out yesterday, he wanted just five more minutes in bed. He tells Changgu as much. 

“Shinwonnie, you’ll be upset if we don’t get to do everything you want us to today.” 

Changgu, as always, was right, but Shinwon just grunts back at him. 

“Come on if you hurry I’ll buy you a fancy coffee and dessert at the park,” Changgu attempts to sweeten the deal and pokes Shinwon in what he thought might be the thigh. 

The thought of a blended coffee has him peaking his eyes out from the covers. 

“I want a troll horn,” he says, moving the blanket down below his mouth. 

Changgu looks at him blankly, “okay sure.”

\--

“Okay so we’re gonna do this a little backward. It’s not ideal but I’m starving,” Shinwon explains as they walk quickly past Spaceship Earth and skirt tourists lining up for Test Track. 

He feels bad running Changgu through Epcot like this, especially as they enter the World Showcase and walk through Mexico. From the corner of his eye he sees Changgu gaping at the lake before his head swivels over to the enormous pyramid. 

“I promise we’ll come back, there’s just a lot of other stuff I think you’re gonna like more.” 

“It’s like,” he pauses, “I don’t believe you because I can’t imagine it gets better but you keep proving me wrong so I guess I trust you.” 

“You guess,” Shinwon deadpans as they get in line for pastries in Norway. “Here, the schoolbread is coconut. You'll like it.”

They order and Shinwon ushers Changgu out the door and back the way they came. 

“We aren’t even going to sit and eat,” Changgu asks as they go the long way around the green.

Shinwon grabs the door for a small girl in front of them trying to heft it on her own. The girl frowns but her dad smiles at Shinwon in tired thanks. Changgu looks surprised at how busy this building is, but as usual, Shinwon doesn’t give him time to look around and tugs him toward a long line. 

“See, plenty of time to eat breakfast,” he says to Changgu, mouth full of troll horn. 

Changgu rolls his eyes and mimes brushing crumbs off his front, Shinwon just laughs. 

“So what’s so important in here we couldn’t even have a nice meal first,” Changgu asks as they get closer to the front. 

“If I say you’ll see, will you smack me?” 

Changgu pretends to think it over. “I suppose not. I’m just curious. You’ve been very secretive this trip.”

Shinwon’s mouth dries a little at that. He’d only just realized his feelings, how could he be obvious about it already? He clears his throat. 

“I just want you to have a good time is all. I don’t want to ruin any of the magic,” he tries. 

Changgu smiles at his shoes a bit as they shuffle forward and Shinwon’s chest gets that tight feeling that happens when Changgu looks at him too long. He decides it’s a toss up between the alien from Alien and just the actual literal sun that would burst out of his chest. The alien would at least do a little softshoe before scooting off. Wait- that was Spaceballs. He shakes his head to clear the thought. 

Shinwon clears his throat again and then Patrick Warburton is giving them safety instructions and they’re taking their seats. 

“This isn’t like...a rollercoaster right,” Changgu asks, turning to him. 

“No. We dangle and it moves but it’s nothing scary I promise.” Without thinking, Shinwon reaches out to squeeze Changgu’s hand to reassure him. “Trust me?”

Changgu’s smile is bright in the dark and the answer comes soft, “Of course.”

Shinwon knew Changgu would love this ride. Soarin’ is a birds’ eye view of the world below and it’s exciting even if you’re scared of heights. Beside him, he can hear his friend’s gasp when the first mountain peak appears. Changgu ‘aw’s appropriately at the polar bears, and gasps again when the orca breaches and laughs and shrinks away as the water splashes towards them. There’s a bit of a shriek from everyone as the propeller plane comes at them in Sydney. 

He risks a glance out of the corner of his eye and sees that same shining smile on Changgu’s face as he’d had all of yesterday. He sees Changgu’s face crumple into another ‘aw’ as the elephants appear on screen and Shinwon turns back to watch, making a mental note that they’d have to do the safari in Animal Kingdom. 

There’s a breathless sound that comes when they swandive toward the Great Wall and Changgu grabs for his hand in the hanging dark. Shinwon’s stomach flutters as their fingers try to knot together between the arm rest. Changgu takes a breath when the kite snaps in front of them before they end up in Egypt and then laughs at himself. Shinwon just squeezes his hand. 

He’s not surprised at the astonished ‘wow’ when Changgu sees the pyramids. He’d been a history nerd as long as Shinwon had known him; he even still had his old ‘Egyptology’ book from when he was a kid- the kind that had all the foldouts and big red jewel embedded in the cover. Changgu kicks his feet and giggles like a child in India, the scent of roses wafting over them. 

When the hawk screeches at them in the desert, Shinwon is the one to jump, his hand nearly dropping from Changgu’s. He turns to see Changgu laughing at him and feels Changgu adjust the grip on his hand. They finish the ride that way: hands tangled together, Changgu oohing and ahhing at the scenes playing in front of them, Shinwon wondering if his hand had started to sweat. 

“That was..insane,” Changgu can’t keep the excitement from his voice as they leave the ride. “You can’t possibly beat that. Where are we going next.”

Shinwon goes to point to another line across the way and realizes they’re still holding hands. Changgu obviously doesn’t notice and Shinwon is loath to drop it and so he lifts their hands together to point to where they’re headed. Changgu looks at their joined hands and blushes, taking his back as Shinwon lowers them again. He feels the loss immediately. 

He shakes his head a bit and says, “it’s another boat ride, I hope you don’t mind. This one is at least educational.” 

“Yeah of course. You know how much I love a boat,” Changgu gives him a smile but there’s none of the enthusiasm from before. The tightness in Shinwon’s chest feels different now. 

\--

Although Changgu seemed dutifully interested in Living with the Land, Shinwon couldn’t help but be disappointed by the reactions it got. He thought for sure Changgu would love seeing how Disney grew their food but excitement levels were low. The Mickey shaped watermelons did seem to get a genuine grin out of him, at least. 

“Hanging in there?” He asks as they exit back into the sunshine. 

“Yeah. I’m just a little tired I think,” Changgu says, stepping off into a patch of shade. 

“We can go back to the hotel? Take a nap?” Shinwon knew Epcot could be a lot but they’d barely done anything yet, it wasn’t even lunchtime. 

Changgu shakes his head. “Come on don’t be silly. We didn’t come all the way here to take naps. Show me what’s next.” 

He squints a bit at Changgu, not able to shake the feeling that he’d done something wrong, before nudging him toward the building across from them where a large sign said “JOURNEY INTO IMAGINATION”. Beneath it was a group of friends laughing and trying to get themselves to all fit in the frame of a selfie. 

“Need help?” Changgu asks. 

“Oh please that would be so nice thank you,” one of them says before they all drop into pose. 

As Changgu hands the phone back, Shinwon notices they all had on matching ears- two of them wore theirs over baseball caps. 

“Fan of Figment?” he asks.

“He’s a gay icon of course we’re fans,” the shorter of the group says as his friends laugh. 

“Friend of Figment, it’s the new friend of Dorothy,” one of the others jokes. 

Shinwon laughs at that. He always loved the little purple dragon but hadn’t considered what he’d meant to other kids. Changgu looks at him confused. 

“You’ll see what they mean when we get inside,” he assures him. 

“First time?” A girl in braids asks. Changgu nods. “You’ll love it. Thanks again for the photo!” 

The group waves and takes off but the boy turns back around, “Remember! It takes just one little spark!” He smiles and jogs to catch up with his friends. 

“Why are all the rides you take me to empty?” Changgu asks Shinwon as they go inside, walking through what should, in Shinwon’s opinion, be a bustling line. 

“People have no taste,” he mutters as Changgu slows to look at the portraits of movie scientists on the wall. 

“Oh, Flubber! I loved that one as a kid,” he says excitedly. 

They board their red buggy and wave to the operator as they move into the ride proper. Shinwon’s head immediately starts bobbing when the song starts. He’d forgotten how much of an earworm Figment could be. 

They both jump when they’re hit with a gust of air as a ‘train’ passes them and Changgu’s nose wrinkles when Figment shoots the skunk smell at them.

When the house flips upside down, the wonderment Shinwon had seen on his friend’s face the day before returns full force. Changgu is looking at the ceiling with a huge smile on his face, soaking in all the silliness around them. His teeth and the flowers on his headband glow blue in the blacklight and watching him, the knot in Shinwon’s chest loosens. 

The professor’s screens blow up and there’s a surprised ‘oh!’ from Shinwon’s side as the lights flash before Changgu is grinning again and tapping his fingers against his thigh in time with the music. 

They’re in the gift shop and Changgu can’t stop talking about how much he loved the ride. 

“Here, they’ve got ears,” Shinwon says, pointing to the display. 

“Ah his little face! Is two pairs too many? I got the other ones yesterday.” Changgu looks genuinely conflicted. 

“If it helps, they’re really cutting back on Figment merch so if you don’t get them now you might not be able to get them next time,” Shinwon tells him. 

That settles it; Changgu marches over to the register with the ears in hand and wears them out. 

“Nemo? There’s a Nemo ride?” Changgu turns to Shinwon with a grin. They’ve seen Finding Nemo no less than 87 times, of course Changgu would be excited about this ride. 

“Oh fuck. Shinwon there’s an aquarium too.” Changgu is, at this point, nearly shouting. 

“Come on then, let’s go see the fish.” Shinwon can’t help but beam back. 

\--

“Is he telling us we’re under siege?” Changgu whispers to Shinwon who laughs far too loudly. 

“I think ‘under the seas’? I’m not sure,” he replies. 

The ride was stalled, right between Martin fleeing the anglerfish and Bruce trying to convince Nemo to come out. It was fine at first, but as the minutes went past and they heard the same error message on loop no less than twenty times, Shinwon thought he might lose his mind. 

\--

They finally, _finally_ make it out of the ride and go to the aquarium in time to see the manatees get their lunch. 

“This is Lil’ Joe,” the marine biologist tells them as she hucks heads of romaine into the pool. “He’s been released into the wild a couple times but he always makes his way back into captivity. We think that not only does he not have the survival skills available to thrive in his natural habitat, he just prefers to be taken care of.” 

The presentation is only about fifteen minutes but Changgu stands there rapt the whole time. Every so often Shinwon hears him mutter a “it’s just so much _lettuce_ ” and has to bite down his smile. When it’s over, Changgu stays staring down into the pool, watching Lil’ Joe and Lou laze around occasionally bumping into the walls. Shinwon has to bribe him away with the promise of turtles. 

\--

“I just think we should spend more time at the aquarium you know?” Changgu tells Shinwon around a mouthful of pasta salad. 

“Like you’re right but you’re the one always complaining about how much tickets are,” Shinwon reminds him. Changgu frowns. 

“It’s really expensive. I just wanna see some fish.”

“You wanna see the fish, you gotta pay the fish.” Changgu hums his assent. “C’mon finish that, we’ve gotta go if we’re gonna make our fastpass time.”

\--

“I can’t believe Disney has such a shit aquarium…” Changgu mumbles as they walk to Spaceship Earth. “Wait we’re going IN the Epcot Ball?”

“Mmmm Epcot Ball,” Shinwon dutifully supplies. Changgu shoves him and laughs. “It’s not actually, y’know, _called_ the Epcot ball, it’s Spaceship Earth and yes, we’re going inside.” 

“To do what?”

“To buil- just get in the line, Changgu.”

Changgu squints his eyes and stares at Shinwon, searching his face for answers. Shinwon just grabs Changgu’s shoulders and steers him forward as the line moves. 

“And before you ask: yes it’s dark, no it doesn’t go fast, no we won’t get wet, and no there are no drops.”

“I wasn’t gonna-” Changgu looks over his shoulder to see Shinwon with a disbelieving look on his face and lets his mouth snap shut with a frown. “Well I _wasn’t_.” Shinwon hears as Changgu turns back around. 

“You were but that’s okay,” Shinwon says, pulling Changgu back against him in a hug. “That’s why I love you.”

It comes so easy like this, it doesn’t feel different at all from when Shinwon’s at the grocery store on the phone with Changgu trying to figure out what exact shape of pasta he wants and they hang up with a quick _Okay love you_. 

“Alright alright get off you’re choking me,” Changgu tells him but Shinwon is positive he feels Changgu’s hands squeeze his wrists once before they tug his arms away. He allows himself a small smile. 

“Here, it’s better in front,” Shinwon tells him when they get inside to the carts, he tugs him to the side to let the couple behind them go ahead to fill the back seat. 

Changgu is tapping the prompts on the screen; English, United States, Illinois, Chicago. Shinwon can tell he isn’t paying attention so when the voiceover asks them to look at the screen to their right, Changgu’s brow is drawn together in a suspicious frown while Shinwon is smiling. 

“Oh this is very steep,” Changgu says, leaning his head against the seatback. 

“Mm, it evens out though you’ll see,” Shinwon assures him. 

“Is that...Judi Dench?”

“Yes!” Shinwon knows his smile is huge, can feel the pull in his cheeks, but he’s always loved that Judi Dench does the voiceover for this ride. 

Changgu lets his head loll over to look at him and Shinwon’s stomach flips when he sees Changgu’s eyes squint up into little crescents when he smiles back at him. 

“C’mon,” he says, voice gentle, nudging Changgu’s thigh, “you don’t wanna miss.”

And he’s glad he pushes because the way Changgu’s shoulders shimmy when he sees the people in the cave and says “Ooooh more animatronics!” makes it worth it. 

Shinwon watches Changgu whip his head from side to side as they roll into Egypt and smiles when he scoffs at the “unknown Egyptian” making papyrus just like Shinwon knew he would. His eyes are wide and watching through the Phonecians and Greeks and Romans, Shinwon expects the tiny gasp when the Library at Alexandria burns. He pats Changgu’s hand through it. 

“Are they- do you smell that?” Changgu asks him, voice teetering on the edge of giddy. 

“It’s cool right?” 

They pump in a burning wood smell in Alexandria, to mimic the books lost in the fire. When he was a kid, Shinwon loved it because it smelled like the fires his dad would light in the pit in their backyard. Now he loves it for the look it brings to Changgu’s face. 

Their whole friendship, Shinwon thought Changgu was easy to please. He was, after all, very go with the flow and low maintenance. It was a simple thing to make him smile by bringing him a coffee from the shop he liked near campus on the way home or when Shinwon let him decide what to make for dinner because cooking calmed him down when his workload got too heavy or he was stressed about his sister. Shinwon would stay in his room grading papers while pots and cabinets banged around in the kitchen and only come out to eat. They were always quiet until the very end when Shinwon would ask how his day was and Changgu would sigh and smile and say, “I’m here now” and Shinwon would clear the table and do the dishes. 

Being with Changgu had always been easy and there, in an admittedly poorly simulated Ancient Egypt, Shinwon was starting to wonder if Changgu might _maybe_ feel the same about him. If Changgu might _maybe_ be looking at him with the stars in his eyes not because he was excited about a parade or ride on the teacups but because he loved Shinwon too. 

It was a lot to consider when Dame Judi Dench was trying to explain Gutenberg’s printing press to them. Shinwon can’t help but jump when Changgu takes his hand and laces their fingers together. 

“Are you okay?” Changgu leans in to whisper. “You seem distracted.”

“I’m fine,” Shinwon manages a smile. Changgu doesn’t look convinced but he gives Shinwon’s hand three quick squeezes before he turns back to the explanation of the telegram. 

Changgu’s eyes are so so wide when they’re turned backward and every single one of the lights surrounding them is reflected back in them when Shinwon looks at him. He wishes his phone camera was good enough to capture it. He wishes he could kiss Changgu then. Their screen lights up and he shakes himself out of it.

He lets Changgu tap through the options again, he knows they’ll just end up picking all the same ones anyway. Shinwon can’t stifle a barking laugh when he sees how grumpy Changgu looks in their video, suspicious and glaring. He laughs harder when he glances over and sees Changgu is making the same face at him. Their cartoon selves pack their bags and visit the ocean, they leave their dog home with their robot, they travel with solar energy. 

Shinwon doesn’t think their future will be anything like that, not really, but he knows that whatever comes, a spaceship or a submarine, a dog or a robot, as long as Changgu is next to him, he can do it all. 

He just hoped Changgu would want to be.   
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry this took so long! i don't know how much of this story is left but hopefully it won't take another 6 months to get out!! 
> 
> huge thank you to my gc cheer squad i really wouldn't have finished this if it weren't for you two. 
> 
> comments always appreciated!! 
> 
> twt/cc: @changgukah

**Author's Note:**

> tags update as i go! 
> 
> twt @changgukah


End file.
